By Prof. Bharat H Desai
The right to live healthy life with basic human dignity is sine qua non for measuring the real wealth of nations. Hence, persistence of poverty anywhere in any form is a violation of the fundamental human rights
The 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was overserved on October 17 amidst predictions of deepening of global poverty, hunger, malnourishment and misery. The day was designated in 1992 by the UN General Assembly (resolution 47/196). The day also witnessed release of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (2022). It has estimated that 1.2 billion people in 111 developing countries live in acute multidimensional poverty. The largest number of poor people live in Sub-Saharan Africa (579 million) and South Asia (385 million). Out of this, 84 per cent live in the rural areas. It is double the number of people who are considered poor on the basis of criteria of living on less than $1.90 per day.
Notwithstanding the pall of gloom, there are positive indications in the MPI. In a remarkable poverty alleviation initiative, in a span of 15 years, India alone has lifted some 415 million people out of multidimensional poverty. It comprises 140 million since 2015/2016. It vouches for working of a lot of targeted poverty alleviation schemes. India matters in the global poverty eradication drive, since it still has a sizeable number of poor people. Out of nearly 229 million poor, nearly 90 percent (205 million) live in rural areas. Basic household requirements such as electricity, clean cooking fuel, nutrition, sanitation and housing haunt most of the people falling under the poverty line. Moreover, the armed conflicts perennially afflicting many countries around the world have taken pushed millions into poverty and misery. The key lies in defining the magical threshold of poverty.
Poverty as a Violation of Human Rights
The right to live healthy life with basic human dignity is sine qua non for measuring the real wealth of nations. Hence, persistence of poverty anywhere in any form is a violation of the fundamental human rights. In 2021 alone, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed between 143 and 163 million people into poverty. Ominously, out of these projected new poor, almost half are in South Asia. Poverty quotient draws upon indicators of deprivation that include nutritious food, cooking fuel, sanitation and housing. Extremely poor do not have access to productive resources, basic health, education, social protection services and basic infrastructure. They remain highly susceptible to the impacts of natural disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. In this vicious spiral, it is the rural women and girls who remain more vulnerable and suffer chronic hunger, malnutrition and sexual violence. The 2022 projections indicate that between 75 million and 95 million people have been added to 659 million people who lived in extreme poverty in 2018. The Ukraine conflict since early 2022 has compounded the global poverty challenge.
On September 8, 2022 UNDP released its annual dataset, 2022 Human Development Report. It shows that 2020-2022 pandemic has proved devastating for billions of people. For the first time, the human development has declined for 9 out of 10 countries. In this wake, the 2022 World Hunger Index has added to the grim scenario by confirming that “progress in tackling hunger has largely halted". Similarly, the 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition showed that the number of undernourished people worldwide, as an indicator of chronic hunger, has shot up to 828 million. It has taken its toll in every part of the world. In an ominous sign, out of the world population of 7.9 billion (2022), a multi-agency report (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO) has showed that nearly “2.37 billion people did not have access to adequate food”.
Global Response
As a primary forum to address the concerns of deprived peoples and nations, the UN General Assembly has consistently employed its principal tool – resolutions – during 2021 (76/219), 2020 (75/232), 2019 (74/237) and 2018 (73/244). As a continuation, on October 13, a draft resolution for 2022, mooted by Group of 77 and China, has been circulated to the UN member states. Though frowned upon by the skeptics, these resolutions reflect the common concerns of humankind. On December 20, 2017 (72/233), the UNGA considered the theme of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018–2027) for accelerating global actions for a poverty-free world. There are several entities of the UN system such as Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Labor Organization, United Nations Development Program and World Food Program that play vital roles in the global efforts to reduce poverty, hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
The UNSG’s 2021 report on the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025), highlighted the underlying drivers of all forms of malnutrition. It called upon the states to act with urgency for elimination of “all forms of malnutrition and achieving the SDGs by 2030”. The Geneva based Human Rights Council (HRC), a subsidiary organ of the UNGA, has five special rapporteurs with mandates that impinge upon different facets of global poverty. They collate the data from grassroots and provide vital signals to the HRC to address chronic poverty as a violation of human rights of “we, the peoples” in whose name the UN Charter was adopted on June 26, 1945. The UN Security Council (UNSC) has also contributed by its periodic conflict related food insecurity ministerial level open debate on May 19, 2022. In the wake of the spiraling global food shortage, high prices and hunger, the UNSG’s good offices did lead to the Black Sea Grain Deal on July 22, 2022 to allow shipments of wheat from both parties to the conflict (Russia and Ukraine). Thus, the UN does matter most in the eradication of global poverty.
Taking International Law Seriously
Notwithstanding the UNGA ordained soft normativity, reflected in resolutions adopted without vote, the persistence of chronic poverty calls for robust international legal instruments to provide a legal basis for the poverty eradication. Most of the former colonial countries still remain unaccountable for the past plundering of wealth of subjugated nations even as funds through bilateral aid and donor agencies remain a trickle and development banks work as mere banks. It presents an ideational challenge for the system of International Law and the conscientious scholars to devise ways and means to institutionalize a robust global cooperative framework for the eradication of poverty in the foreseeable future, if not by the end of current cycle of SDGs 2030 (GA resolution 70/1 of 25 Sept 2015). With 1.3 billion population and largest share of the global poor, India holds the key in leading from the front in making a decisive dent on the global poverty cauldron, as already shown in the recent years.
Professor Dr. Bharat H. Desai is Jawaharlal Nehru Chair and Professor of International Law at the Centre for International Legal Studies of SIS, JNU. He served as a member of the official Indian Delegations to various multilateral negotiations (2002-2008) as well as coordinated the Making SIS Visible initiative (2008-2013) and Inter-University Consortium: JNU; Jammu; Kashmir; Sikkim (2012-2020). He is the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Policy and Law (IOS Press: Amsterdam).